Published on March 23rd, 2021 | by Ali Dino
0The Pros Of Learning Acoustic
I believe that acoustic guitars have developed a bad reputation, and I hope this will remedy that and help more people to develop an interest in acoustic guitars. One reason why these guitars have developed a negative reputation often has to do with that this is usually the first guitar most people learn on. It is also seen as the stepping-stone to electric guitars and their amplified glory.
Another common reason may be that when you tell people you play the acoustic guitar that they may picture you sitting around a campfire, playing your guitar. Yet there are many benefits linked to playing this type of guitar. In fact, it actually has a couple of benefits over the closely related electric guitars.
Let’s go over some of these benefits:
– You Won’t Need An Amp
So this one may seem obvious, but perhaps the best thing about playing your acoustic guitar is that you are able to go anywhere with it. You won’t have to bring along a heavy amp or all the cables. You can just take your acoustic guitar out and you are ready to play. Many models also come with built-in tuners, meaning you won’t even have to worry about bringing along a tuner.
– Fingerpicking
This is among the best methods you can learn when playing guitar, and it also sounds way better on acoustic guitars. Fingerpicking is also a very diverse way in which to play guitar. It can be loud or quiet, abrasive and hard or gentle and soft, Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”, or Beethoven. Click heIt Will Turn You Into A Better Guitaristre for a great example of “fingerpicking”.
– It Will Turn You Into A Better Guitarist
This is a fact because if you play an acoustic guitar and then an electric guitar directly after, you will quickly notice that an acoustic is more difficult or harder to play. The stings are harder and thicker to press. Your fingers will also get tired faster since you are physically playing harder. Any mistake that you make will be heard a lot clearer as the true sounds won’t be hiding behind reverb, delays, or distortion. This also means that your technique will have to be cleaner and better. When you do decide to play one of the electric guitars you will notice that you have better technique and control, playing clearer and faster. Buy guitarguitar headphones to hear your sound.
There are also many things you can experiment with on an acoustic guitar that you would not normally test out on an electric guitar.
– Different Tunings
Using a variety of tunings is a lot more common when it comes to acoustic when compared to electric guitars, mainly because the tunings are more focused on fingerpicking and strumming styles of playing. Some of the best tunings to try include D – A – D – G – A – D, or the open tuning such as open G or open E.
– Capo
Using capo on acoustic guitars is as experimental to the different tunings since you are able to use the open chords that you were not able to use before.
Click here for examples of how to use different tunings along with a capo.
– Slide
I always suggest that people test out playing a slide on an acoustic before they try it out on an electric. Higher actions on an acoustic make it easy to slide. You will also be able to pick when your technique requires work more easily than you would through effects and an amp.